Zubayr Theater

Fuse

I have to hand it to Rekhar, the lady teaching me the basics of making clothes, she really does make this look a lot easier than I would've ever thought it to be.

Moving around my tools in the process of making a basic black cloak just as practice, I let my mind drift to the circumstances of this moment.

I've been sent to this backwater planet 3 days ago, and since my first day, I've been starting to get back into the daily grind. Though, this daily grind consisted of killing monsters and stuff for commissions, and learning from Rekhar so I can stylize my stylist or whatever my younger Gen Z compatriots would say.

Although, it's quite a shame that I have to work harder for my rank ups now, since the only rank that went up yesterday was my endurance. And that was only to F to F+

Shame that I actually have to work for my power ups, now.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand…

I wanted to make the American flag, but when I inquired Rekhar about it, she essentially said that making flags usually just needed a machine. And when I showed her my sketch of the flag, she said that the machine could probably do it easily. And although I wanted to make the flag myself, I would also probably butcher it and disgrace the nation, so I'll accept the help of the machine, just this once. I'll probably make my own flag later on.

So, I'm going to figure out someone who has access to the machine later, and focus on making sure I can repair my clothes the next time I get my ass kicked. Because, let's be honest with ourselves here, I can't manage a 100% win rate, no matter how American I am. This place is basically Vietnam, anyhow. I'm sure a jungle rat will kick my ass somehow sooner or later.

For practice, I'm just making a black cloak that I might use later to make myself look more intimidating. I just think cloaks are cool and I am definitely going to rock one the moment I can find a good chance to rock one. Why did capes and cloaks ever go out of fashion? Completely absurd.

Going back to my point, Rekhar is a great teacher. Although, my only wish is that she would let me learn faster, because I want to know how to make things using materials other than wool or cotton. I would so very much like some metals or some plastics to be added into my list of things I can use. But since it's only my 2nd day with her, I suppose it's reasonable she would want to take it slow.

In return for this class, all I'm being asked for is to help with the next performance, which is pretty easy to do. If anything, I could just call it community service instead of repaying the favor.

Apparently, the next show is happening in about 3 months, and it's to celebrate the Sabzeruz festival, which is a festival that celebrates Lesser Lord Kusanali's birthday.

Which incidentally reminds me, I have an entire perk dedicated to killing gods.

Considering that the god in question is relatively new, only being 500 years old, and hasn't been seen in a very long time, I could probably just kill her and get her soul relatively easily. Maybe if I bump my power rank to B…

But that brings up another question. Could I really repay all this nation's done to me just by killing their god? Especially when I have no idea what the consequences of those actions would be?

Well, this nation may hang me for thought crimes if I've ever let anyone on to it, but I might do it.

After all, the akasha is a national disaster for privacy and free thought, and if the very god of the nation is allowing this to go on… Then, presumably, they are complicit, or the mastermind behind it all.

Of course, I've been dutifully doing my thing as just an average outlander in the city, so nobody would ever expect me to kill Kusanali, so maybe I could use that to get an audience with her to make up my mind to kill her or not.

And of course, I am a bit excited to tear down a god. After all, after hearing of the singular God of the christians, I'm quite biased against any gods.

After all, tearing down the idols of traitors and heretics sounds quite therapeutic, I hear from the christians 2000 years ago tearing down whatever pagan thing they could find.

Lost in my own thoughts, I accidentally pricked myself with the needle I was working with. Nothing spilled, obviously, my gel sticks to me pretty well, but it does catch Rekhar's eye.

"Oh! Did you prick yourself? Do you need a bandaid for that?" Rekhar fussed over my hand, taking a quick look at it.

Showing her the clearly not bleeding hand, I denied her, "No thank you, I'm good."

Ah, later today, I'm meeting with Nilou at the cafe she first brought me to. Apparently, she wants to know how I've been doing adjusting to this new place.

In my conscious thought, I thought it might be good to just ignore whatever destiny had planned for me, and to just take it slow and easy for a while, while figuring out what nefarious scheme that invading soul is trying to plan for me.

…But in my heart of hearts, I can't help but feel as if taking it slow and easy would somehow be betraying a part of me.

Puspa Cafe

Nilou

Sitting down at a table with Fuse, she read the newspaper that she ended up being given for free by the person running the stall. Newspapers weren't very popular in Sumeru, mostly because the akasha essentially lets people hear about the news while doing something else, instead of having to sit down and read an actual page of paper. Although, there are a few avid newspaper collectors in Sumeru, but definitely no one she knows.

That being said, she was quite surprised to see that Rex Lapis ended up dying during Liyue's rite of decension…

Fuse was also pretty interested as well, "So, are gods dying relatively common around here?"

That… Wasn't a really good joke, so she ended up blanking at Fuse, "...What?"

Fuse shrugged weakly, waving it off, "Weak joke, I guess."

She internally dismissed his response. After all, not every joke that comes out of anyone's mouth is bound to always land. Although, Fuse probably could've come up with something better…

Politely coughing to get his attention, she smiled, "No worries! But hearing of Rex Lapis dying… Wow, he's been alive for 4,000 years, and now he's gone? It almost doesn't feel real, you know?"

Fuse stared at the newspaper intensely, her friend seemingly ignorant of how he looked, "Say, do you think someone actually killed him, or is it because of natural causes?"

She thought about the question for a moment, and the answer seemed obvious. It must've obviously been natural causes, because of course nobody could just kill Rex Lapis without anybody noticing! The fight would probably destroy the entirety of Liyue Harbor!

But, of course, that begs the question of what natural causes would be able to kill a god?

So, Nilou answers the question with another question, "Do you think any of those options are actually possible?"

Fuse looked away as if he was trying to remember something. Then, he snapped his fingers as he finally seemed to remember what he was looking for, "Ah! Ah, how do I say this…" Fuse waved around his hand for a bit before stopping, figuring out how to phrase it, "What if he's not dead?"

…What?

Fuse immediately put his hand on his chin, "No, that was a terrible way of phrasing it. My bad."

Still, that did bring up the question; was Rex Lapis actually dead? Of course, since Sumeru is separated from Liyue by the chasm and the ocean, any information arriving from Liyue would be a bit late by a few days.

So whenever any foreign news comes in like this, Sumeru needs to play a game of: Is this information up to date? Because if Rex Lapis isn't dead and this is just a big miscommunication…

Instead of thinking about it, she simply shrugged it off, "Who knows, it could be a big hoax, or it could actually be real. Anyways, this conversation isn't about Liyue. How are you adjusting to Sumeru?"

Fuse shook his hand in a so-so manner, "Eh, it could be worse, it could be better. Though, I am pretty lucky to have met you and Dori, I don't think I would've lasted long here without you guys."

The knowledge that her small help contributed that much to him did make her heart flutter a bit, but still, she had to ask, "Oh, what about Sumeru could be better?"

Fuse looked out the window, seemingly reminiscent, "Ah, I just miss home, and this place is so foreign and… Ahem, different."

Ah, homesickness? She couldn't do much about that, unfortunately. She couldn't relate to it either since she's never left Sumeru, unless if anyone counts the desert as leaving Sumeru, although that opinion is only held by some of the more… Intolerant members of the akademiya.

So instead, she gave a pitying smile, "Oh, I've never been out of Sumeru before, but I can feel your pain of missing home. I know if I were to leave, I'd miss all my friends and family too."

His mask covered his face, but even she could spot the slight downward shift in the fabric, as if he was frowning, "Friends and family? No, those things aren't that important to me anymore…"

That sent her mind reeling just a bit. How could friends and family not be the most important thing back home? If not the friends and family, what else could you miss about home? The environment?

Wait, did Fuse even have friends or family left in his home?

So, she asked, "Huh? Surely you had some friends or family, right? How come those people aren't important to you?"

Fuse didn't hesitate, looking dead in her eyes, "My country is the most important thing in the whole universe to me."

…The country?

Fuse continued to elaborate on his answer, "The United States of America is the greatest country in the world, rivaled by none. My pride as a living being is my pride as an American. The reason I miss home so much is because my fellow Americans are beset by traitors on all sides. The reason I miss home so much is because by being here, I am betraying my nation by being unable to come to its aid in its darkest hour."

She… Didn't quite know what to say about that.

She's never been one to be that patriotic about Sumeru, as the best part of Sumeru isn't the country itself, but rather the people in it. She was aware that some people higher up in the Akademiya take great pride in being the nation of wisdom, but even they have other things to care about.

But to Fuse, it just sounded like the concept of the nation was the most important thing in the world to him.

So, she told him, "There's more to living than serving your nation, you know? I don't exactly know where America is, or why your people are fighting each other… But you can afford to forget about it all for a little while, you know? To value something other than your country?"

Fuse scoffed, dismissive of her words, "What is more valuable anywhere in the world other than America?"

She sighed. Sometimes, you can't make someone change their opinion, and it looks like Fuse won't be changed either.

Instead, she tried to change the topic, "...I don't know what would be a good answer for you, but let's change the topic. So… How have the lessons with Rekhar been?"

Fuse accepted the change of topic and immediately mildly groaned, "I understand why she's slow with me, in fact, she's really good at teaching me. The only problem I have with her teaching method is that despite the fact it's effective, I just want it to go faster…"

Now that's relatable…

Fuse

And the rest of the conversation flowed smoothly after my patriotic leak.

It's also really convenient she just took face value that America is real. Which, of course it is, just not around here.

I have to really pull up my deceit game, because name-dropping America is going to lead to some bizarre consequences later in life, I feel. I'm just lucky that Nilou's an airhead and will allow me to talk about America without heavily questioning it.

And also, I did vaguely remember hearing about some game faking out the death of a god, but I didn't really remember much about it, so I brought it up for basically no reason, since I couldn't really make good conversation about it. Thank god that Nilou is super nice enough to just let it go.

Still though, hearing about the death of a god did entice my interest, seeing as my devourer of gods perk is most definitely a chekhov's gun waiting to be used…

Eventually, we reached onto the topic of the favor I had to pay back to them in exchange for teaching me how to make clothing.

That is to say, my participation in the upcoming Sabzeruz festival in a few months.

"So, we need help in setting it all up, and we were running a bit low on a few things for making all those decorations, so we were hoping you could maybe act as the errand boy and collect some of them for us, instead of us having to pay for someone else to collect them." Nilou was explaining over an empty plate and cup.

I nodded, basically understanding my job. It's nothing too complicated or hard, in fact, probably easier than the mandatory community service I had to do in my senior year.

So, I said, "Yeah, I can definitely help you get some things and set it all up. What do you need me to get for you guys?"

Nilou smiled, making me slightly better about helping, as she said, "Oh! Thank you! See, all we need right now are some extra materials so Rekhar, Najia, and now you can make all of the things they need for the festival, since we're running a bit low right now."

I nodded, getting the assignment. All I need to do is to pick up the materials they hopefully should've already put in orders for, right? Seems simple enough, so I said, "Right, I can definitely do that, though I'm going to need a map or something so I don't get lost though."

Nilou nodded, "That's fine! In fact, since I'm not busy right now, I can just help you carry everything, since we ordered a bunch of the stuff anyways."

Oh, I get to hang out with Nilou today? That's pretty cool, so I said, "Thanks for the help, hopefully I'll have this place a bit more memorized someday so I don't have to rely on you for directions all the time."

Nilou got up, taking out her wallet to pay for the meal we ate, and smiled, "That's alright! You can always just use the akasha anyways…" Her eyes then drifted to where my akasha would be if I ever wore the thing, and realized that it wasn't there, "Wait, you're not wearing your akasha?"

I shrugged, making up an excuse, "I'm not quite used to it, so I just don't wear it."

She looked a bit confused, "Well, sure, but isn't the wealth of information given to you by the akasha worth learning to use it?"

I looked at her carefully, thinking of what to tell her about America without necessarily telling her about America. What was that nation Dori told him about loving freedom a lot? Ah, right, "My nation is similar to the nation of… What was it… Mondstadt, right? We value freedom a lot, and learning things is a lot better than just being told information."

Nilou nodded, seemingly getting the cultural difference, "Ah! That's fine, then. I was just saying since a lot of criminals don't wear the akasha in fear of being tracked, so anyone not wearing them raises some suspicion. Especially you, considering you're new to Sumeru and always have your mask on."

Ah, right, Dori said something to that extent on my first day here when we killed a bunch of thieves. Speaking of, were they buried or something? I haven't seen their bodies since the day I shot them. Maybe they were eaten by the wildlife…

Ah well, not that it matters.

Getting up to exit the restaurant, I simply say, "Well, if anyone has a problem with my attire, they're free to bring up the issue to me. Otherwise, they can all stay quiet."

Nilou follows me and gets in front, "Alright, well, you are free to do whatever you want to do. But anyways, the first thing we need to do is to go pick up some materials to make our clothing that we use for the festival show. Just follow me, and we can carry them together."

That makes sense, so I just did as she asked and followed her. During the trip, I asked myself the question, should I just show her my inventory?

It obviously doesn't exist in this world, considering she needs 2 people to carry the stuff, but considering that Nilou hasn't really done anything wrong to me yet, is it fine to just reveal it to her?

Well, considering she didn't ask much about America, unlike Dori who immediately figured out I'm from another world, she might just accept the fact that I'm not going to tell anyone about my inventory.

But the other question is; Is she going to snitch? She is wearing the akasha after all, Dori did mention that the akademiya does have the right to just look at what their users are doing at any time…

Hm, really, considering the akasha, the answer is definitely going to be 'no.' since it's too risky to let her know.

What a shame, secrets are annoying to keep. Although how much of that sentiment is because of the fact I'm just a poor keeper of secrets is something I'll elect to ignore.

Eventually, we made it to the guy who the troupe bought the materials off of, and it sounded like the materials were collected with no issues whatsoever. So after we confirmed our identities, we were given about 7 small crates to carry back to the theater.

I tested out the heaviness of a crate, and it turns out to be decently heavy, about the heaviness of the typical school backpack, I assume.

I may be half-slime and get blown away like jello, but I can definitely still carry this all without being crushed.

Nilou looked a bit sheepish when she tried to pick one of the crates up, "Uh, I can't really carry that many things… We might have to make a few trips for all of this…"

Huh? It's just 3 and 4, right? It shouldn't be that hard, even considering that we're a bit far from where the theater is. So I asked, "It should just be a simple 3 and 4 carry, right?"

Nilou looked a bit embarrassed, "I can uh, only hold 2 of these usually… I didn't think we'd have more than 5 boxes for this shipment, but I must've misheard Zubayr…"

I sighed, stretching out my body for the workout. At the very least, this should be easier than the community service… "Give me 5, then."

Your Strength Rank has slightly increased!

Your Strength Rank has increased to D!

How nice of my system to recognize my efforts!

Anyways, the crates of cloth and wool and stuff got to the theater safe and sound, we were tasked with the job of heading to port Ormos to go escort the caravan that has our other goods and to check if they actually have the things we need instead of something wrong, causing us to waste a bunch of money and time since apparently, they don't do returns here.

Also, apparently, the goods that the theater ordered were sourced from all over the world to aid in the festival. To be honest, it sounds a bit odd to celebrate a god using things from the nations of other gods, but maybe it's just a cultural difference.

As we were on the path to Ormos, we got into another conversation, this time on the lesser lord herself.

"Say, I don't see many other people getting ready for any festival yet. Are you guys a bit early?" I asked, keeping an eye for any thieves that might want to try their hands.

Nilou's expression saddened a bit before replying, "Ah, well, we are a bit early, since theater takes a long time to get ready… But at the same time, the Sabreruz festival isn't exactly the biggest festival around."

Wait, the festival that literally celebrates the birthday of their god isn't that popular? "Why not? I thought that the birthday of a god would be something worthy of some celebration?"

"Ah, well, Lesser Lord Kusanali hasn't actually been seen by the general public in 500 years since she came to power, so she isn't exactly as popular as Greater Lord Rukkhadevata…" Nilou explained with a bit of sadness in her eyes before being replaced with determination, "But we still want to have a big celebration for her! Just in case if she's watching!"

Huh, so people just like their old god better…

…Say, I have the [Devourer of Gods] perk… Maybe the people of Sumeru won't mind if I took their relatively weak sounding god out of their hands… It'd probably hurt Nilou, but I'm sure she'll get over it. Plus, it sounds like they are capable of replacing gods, and this Kusanali doesn't sound like the greatest god.

"Hm, do you know where Kusanali is in Sumeru? Like her home or something?" I asked, trying to keep any ulterior motives out of my voice.

Nilou looked at me questioningly for a moment before thinking about it, "Uh, I read somewhere that she lives in a room that sits at the very top of the great tree…"
Ah, so the top of the tree? That makes sense. I'll have to scout it out later, but I'm definitely going to be a god-killer someday.

Quest Created:

[Devourer of Gods]

Description: The Gods, high and mighty, have drawn your ire. And so, you will lay them low in your name.

Reward: New Class Slot, 75 Major Rank Points, Divine Imbuement.

Ah! It looks like my system fully agrees with me here. Kusanali's days are numbered!

Also, I seemed to have discovered how to unlock new classes, from big quests, I suppose.

I nodded, thankful for her help, "Thanks for letting me know. Anyways, if I can ask, what got you into performing anyways?"

Nilou looked excited to answer that question, and the answers flew out of her mouth all the way until we made it to Ormos.

Once we made it, we immediately went to our supplier, and surprisingly enough, he was already packing things onto the sumpter beasts.

"Oh! Mr. Sanjay! Are you packing our things for us?" Nilou asked when we got there.

He nodded, "I had some extra time, and when I saw that these items were for you, I just felt compelled to help out a bit! The caravan should leave relatively shortly, and of course there are seats on top of the beasts for you to sit on since you've come so far!"

Nilou thanked him, and she went to check the goods to make sure that we get what we're paying for.

While I waited for her to finish that up, I let my eyes feast on port Ormos. It's a pretty good looking port with a really big tree at the centerpiece of it all…

Then, my eyes caught sight of a really big and fancy ship. I wonder who it belongs to? It looks like it's been docked for a while, and a bunch of guys in fancy gear are just hanging around it.

Hm, if I were a pirate, I would rob that ship…

"Oh, are you interested in my ship? How nice of you to so subtly compliment it," A handsome voice suddenly alerted me, causing me to take a step forward to get some distance before turning around to see who said that.

Taking a quick look at him, he looks like… Some sort of doctor? Hold on, let me use (Observe).

Dottore (In The Prime of His Life)

Title: The Doctor, Second Seat of the Fatui Harbingers

Race: Enhanced Human

Status: In The Prime of His Life

Stamina: Full

Mana: Full

Classes: Alchemist, Plague Doctor, Elemental Mage, …

Overall Rank: S

Power Rank: S

Magic Rank: S

Social Rank: S

Holy Shit. I live in the worst timeline.

This guy is just a normal human guy?! [Devourer of Gods], you are worthless! I can't win in a fight against him!

Okay, shit, first of all, I need to make sure this guy isn't going to kill me.

So I said, with as much stability in my voice as possible, "Uh, Ahem. Yes, it's a very nice ship. That being said, if the ship is there, why are you here? Is there anything you need from me?"

Dottore nodded, "Ah, yes, there is something you could do for me. In fact, all you need to do for me is to answer a few questions."

Questions? Oh, fuck me.

Dottore didn't ask for my consent, as he immediately launched into his monologue, "Perhaps you may or may not know, I am a scholar, first and foremost. As such, I delve into the many questions that Teyvat has to offer in the hopes of answering them. I do not mean to brag, however, I would say that I am quite experienced in answering questions. So, do not feel at all threatened when I ask you this, but…"

Suddenly, he disappeared and reappeared in front of me, startling the hell out of me, with a sinister grin on his face, "You aren't fully human, are you?"

How the hell does he know that?! I know he's an S ranked dude, but he shouldn't be able to literally look at me and guess that I'm not human!

Hell, considering he's probably capable of wiping me in a fight, I might as well answer truthfully, since if I lie to him and he figures it out, I'm probably dead.

So, as calmly as I could, I told him, "Ah, yes, I'm not fully human, just… Half human. How did you know, though?"

Dottore seemed slightly pleased, did he actually know it, or was it just an educated guess? Regardless, he said, "Ah! I see, and what's the other half?"

Not sensing any aggression so far aside from the intimidating move of moving so fast my eye couldn't see him, I decided it's not a big loss to just talk with him instead of trying to run.

So, I told him the truth, "Ah, well, I'm half slime."

Dottore seemed to think about something for a moment before speaking up again, "Hm, I wasn't aware that a relationship between a slime and a human could bear any fruit. Though, I suppose my breeding experiments were well over a few hundred years ago at this point and I haven't bothered checking up if any circumstances have changed since then. Perhaps I will have to try again to see if I could replicate your parents' results."

I stared at him for a moment, the meanings of his words not fully registering until a second later.

THIS GUY HAD BREEDING EXPERIMENTS?! HELL NAH THIS GUY IS AN REAL LIFE NAZI.

I am definitely not going to speak with this guy ever again until I have the power to kill him! Anyone who casually mentions his human rights atrocities has absolutely no right to live!

And also, killing him would be like killing a real nazi, which is definitely a true American tradition.

Still though, I would be absolutely dead if I told him any of that, so I just cautiously say, "Uh, I'm not sure where my parents are these days. But uh, are we done speaking now?"

Dottore stared at me, causing me to nervously take a step back. Then, he said, "Ordinarily, I might've just taken you to a lab and experimented on you…"

Holy shit in another timeline I am so dead. I currently live in the best timeline.

He continued, "However, there is something more pressing at the moment, so instead, I'll just remember to find you later. I would start counting down your days… Ah, I haven't even gotten your name yet."

I gulped, thanking whoever's listening that Dottore has something more important to do, and I immediately answered his question with the truth because I don't want to find out if he has some magical ability to detect lies, "My name is Fuse."

He smiled, "And you can call me The Doctor. Goodbye, Fuse, I'm sure we'll meet again."

And with that, he turned around and left me alone.

Achievement Unlocked!

[Brush With The Strong]

Requirements: Encounter a strong opponent, and survive.

Description: Now that you've seen one of the many peaks of the mountain, do you have the will to scale it?

Rewards: A New Class Slot, Heartbeat Ring, Title: Survivor

That… Might've been the scariest moment of my entire life.

School did not prepare me for meeting an absurdly strong dude in a port far away from home. At least I got an achievement from it…

Speaking of which, fuck yeah I deserve that achievement! And I got a new ring, a new title, and I can get a second class now!

Anyways, what does the title and ring do?

[Heartbeat Ring - When worn, this ring will hide your heartbeat from anyone that may be listening.]

[Survivor - Title - Overcoming ordeals is tantamount to survival. - When equipped, you will occasionally be able to dodge attacks fatal to you without any thought.]

Oh- That's a great title! The ring is sort of useless, considering I don't have an actual heart right now. Or any organs, for that matter.

Hm, now that I think of it, that sort of makes me immune to car crashes, huh?

Dismissing the thought, however funny it may seem, I start to think about how to use the title.

On its own, it's probably better than my devourer of souls title, though…

Hm, do I keep the small buffs from my devourer of souls title after I unequip it? Because if so, I could easily devour a bunch of souls, and then switch to the survivor title without issue…

Okay, I'll have to put that idea on the backburner for now, and test it out some other time. For now… Ah, how the hell do I use that second class slot?

Tapping on the screen, I don't get any extra pop-up from it that tells me how to use it.

So, essentially, I'm kind of stuck. How the hell am I supposed to fill that slot, then?

Maybe it's another thing that wants me to think of what I want?

Ahem, alright, system, I want to be a soul mage!

…

Ugh, of course.

Fine, I'll figure out how to use the thing later.

You know what, I'm pissed about not having everything that my system has, an easy to understand guide about them.

I'm just going to try out the eating a soul and switching my title thing right now, considering I probably wouldn't want to figure out the hard way in an actual fight.

So, I look around my surroundings, seeing Nilou and the porter guy talking with each other, completely forgetting about me, and see that nobody is looking in my direction.

Deciding this was a good time as any, I took out one of my weak souls and ate it-

A weak, pitiful soul has been consumed.

You have gained: Temporary increase in Control for 1 minute. [Remnant Gel]

New Class Unlocked!

Requirements: Interact with a soul, or at least try to.

[Soul Mage - Using the powers of the dead, the Soul Mage imbues its magical powers to devastate the living and increase their own power.]

Starter Weapon Given.

[Wooden Staff - A basic, wooden staff that acts as the conduit for your power.]

Starter Spells Unlocked.

[Extract Soul - Extracts the soul from a corpse. Uses a medium amount of mana to use.]

[Soul Blast - Magical power, imbued with a soul to attack your foes. Requires a soul and a small amount of mana to use.]

[Detect Souls - Allows your eyes to see the souls in your sight. Requires a small amount of mana to use.]

Achievement Unlocked!

[New Class, New Me]

Requirements: Gain your second class.

Description: Some say the class you first chose represents you in your entirety. Now that you have another class, it's like you've chosen another 'you.' hasn't it?

Reward: 3 rare class upgrade gacha tokens related to the class you've unlocked.

I- What?

Almost immediately, I sensed a new power inside of me that I'm 99% certain wasn't there before, and I tried to make sense of it.

Okay, first of all, I have a new class now, which is very conveniently the class that I wanted. And apparently, I got it by… eating the soul?

Huh, okay, judging from that, I can guess that I unlock new class slots not just by big quests, but achievements as well, I assume. And I can unlock new classes by doing something related to the class I want, and judging by the fact that the thing I needed to unlock was to literally just try to interact with a soul, I can guess that the things I can do to unlock the classes are pretty broad and vague.

So that's pretty nice, actually. A lot more interesting than just picking one from a screen like last time.

Anyways, I guess I'm a soul mage, now. And the new achievement I got from it looks like I get a few freebie gacha pulls for it.

So, let's see what I get.

Rare Class Upgrade Item Rolled.

[Spiritual Staff - This staff is imbued with many spirits, allowing it to efficiently conduct souls. Increases the control of soul spells.]

Rare Cursed Class Upgrade Perk Rolled.

[Spiritual Karma - The souls of your enemies don't welcome your ability to keep them. Whenever you hold a soul, it will slightly burn you. This curse can be removed by releasing 50 souls voluntarily.]

Rare Class Upgrade Perk Rolled.

[Weakened Boundaries - The boundaries between the spirit world and the living world weakens. It is slightly easier to call upon spirits while this perk is active.]

Okay so I get- Oh, what the hell?! I got a cursed perk? Damn you, RNG!

I mean, the staff and the boundary thing is nice, but being burnt by the souls is going to suck…

Ah, I guess that means I'll have to kill 50 people and release them for free now, huh? I mean, that should theoretically be easy…

Eh, how badly does the flames hurt anyway? Because if it doesn't hurt that much, I might just tank the burns…

Though, I'm going to probably have to check it later though, since I'm pretty sure Nilou is wondering why I'm standing all the way over here now.

Returning back to Nilou, she first asked, "Oh, I saw you talking with someone earlier, was it fun?"

Yeah, 'fun' isn't what I'd use to describe that encounter. A more apt description would be 'dreadful' or 'stressed out.'

Still, I wasn't going to rain on her parade, so I lied to her face, "Yeah, people are nice enough to let me gawk here. Is everything ready on your end?"

Nilou nodded, "Yeah, the caravan is going to be leaving in about 20 minutes, sorry that you can't look around Ormos some more."

I wasn't that upset over it, I'm not the biggest travel enthusiast in the world, I can always just explore this place at some other time. So, I said, "It's fine, I can come back later. Anyways, our job is to just ride with the caravan, right?"

"Yep! That's the exact thing we're doing!" Nilou confirmed, before seeming to get a lightbulb in her head, "Oh! You might not know this, but this is pretty common in Sumeru, the act of sending someone to check the goods and defend it. The reason why that's the case is because of a story that popped up a few hundred years ago that was really popular with the kids…"

And so, Nilou had told me a story about a guy who kept ordering a special type of fruit, only to get literally every other fruit in existence.

It might just be a fairy tale, but even I felt bad for the guy.

And later, we got onto the caravan, and made it to Sumeru without any issue…

Dottore

Hundreds upon hundreds of years, and still Teyvat manages to pique his interest year after year. Truly, he was lucky to have been born here.

It really is a shame that he couldn't study 'Fuse' more, the possibilities of cross-species races was truly a fascinating topic that his clones could easily sink some hundreds of years for. He's sure that some type of breed will inevitably prove themselves to be superior to humans, and make themselves a truly formidable component in the Tsaritsa's army.

Still, though, the question of Fuse's origins are still a mystery, though he could clearly see his obviously weak facade of confidence he was putting up during their short conversation, so he must not be quite integrated into the community yet.

Perhaps Fuse, being half slime, shares the characteristics of being cowards with his full-slime brethren? If that is the case, then perhaps slimes won't be very useful in the Fatui… Hm, one of his clones will have to figure that one out through more extensive testing.

It would be rather disappointing to learn that slimes were the only species capable of reproducing with humans, though. However, if elemental beings were capable of reproduction with humans, then perhaps he could create a communion between a human and an abyssal creature…

Though, perhaps that is a bit far off, considering the work that needs to be done here in Sumeru.

The topic of creating new life may be fun, but ultimately, it's a topic best left to one of his less important selves.

The true goal he had in Sumeru was to, after all, create a new god. And that has nothing to do with Fuse.

…Though, on the topic of gods…

He had spent a long time with the Tsaritsa, and had grown acquainted with her presence, that heavenly aura that constantly surrounds her as one of the 7 archons. During his brief encounter with Barbatos when he slew one of the 4 winds, he too felt a divine presence not that dissimilar from the Tsaritsa, and he never felt that aura anywhere else.

And so, why does Fuse emit such a similar aura?

It's not quite as heavenly or as pronounced as the Tsaritsa or Barbatos, yet it's quite clearly some type of divine aura…

Still, it was quite dormant currently, and still not as overbearing as the actual archons, but could it be that he's close to ascending? Or is there something else at play that he couldn't even begin to fathom yet?

Ah, if only the project to create a god wasn't so urgent as to needing to be completed in the span of half a year, Fuse could be so interesting to play with…

For now though, it would be better for the experiment to go on without being interfered with, with perhaps a few agents keeping an eye on him.

After all, the most efficient experiments are conducted when the subjects don't even know they're being experimented on.

Fuse

Nilou had thanked me for helping out with the errands, and just as we were about to part ways, she asked one last question, "Oh, by the way, Mr. Zubayar wanted to know if you wanted to come on stage for a little while to act in the play after my dance in the Sabzeruz festival? I think you'll be playing as King Deshret, since we've been needing someone who looks like that for a while."

I was just about to decline her, seeing as I was decidedly not a theater kid, but then I realized I hadn't actually asked what the play was actually about.

So, naturally, I asked, "Well, what's the play about anyhow?"

Nilou started to explain the reasoning behind the play, "Oh! Every Sabzeruz festival, we tell the tale of how the Sabzeruz festival was first created, when the goddess of flowers wanted to celebrate Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's birthday. This time, we're doing a play, since last year, since the last time we hosted a play for the Sabzeruz festival was almost 6 years ago at this point."

Okay, so it's about explaining the story about how the festival was started, but… "Hey, wasn't this supposed to be about Kusanali?"

Nilou nodded, "Since Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's death, the Sabzeruz festival was transformed into a festival for the dendro archon's birthday. But… Apparently, the akademiya doesn't like that, since they really don't like the fact that the Greater Lord passed away."

I looked at them oddly, "The intellectuals hate the truth?" I asked, before immediately making a connection and scoffing, "Ah, pseudo-intellectuals."

Yeah, those PHD kiddies on the republican side absolutely hated the truth. Scum of the Earth.

Nilou shot a disapproving look at me, "Hey! I don't like it either, but you shouldn't just disrespect them like that!"

I dismissively waved my hand, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." And then I began to ponder whether I should accept.

If I did accept, there probably would be a big quest or achievement for taking part in one, probably, but that's still a massive time dump…

So now the question was: would it be worth it? And the answer obviously was: absolutely hell not.

Theater productions take literally months of work, and I need that time to be able to power myself up so I can take down all the things that need to be taken down, like…

…A god, probably.

And besides, acting as someone will likely take my mask off, and I tried to take off my mask in public once, and I was hit with an anxiety attack so severe that I nearly threw up, so I dumped the idea of ever taking my mask off in public. Worst of all, I have no idea how to overcome that perk. It doesn't say anything about being able to overcome it, but if my [spiritual karma] perk can be overcome, of which I've already released 13 newly caught souls for, then my base negative perks could probably be overcome.

So, I said, "Sorry, but I have other things I have to do. I can still work on the props and costumes, but I don't think I can commit to actually taking part in the play in any significant capacity."

Nilou looked a bit down at my rejection, "Aw! Well, I understand, it sounds like we'll have to get someone new to play the role this year… But oh well, we'll manage. Anyways, I'll be leaving now…"

As she began to leave, I started to turn around but then I heard her say, "Wait! I just came up with one last question!"

Well, in for a penny…

I turned back to her, "Well, what did you want to ask me?"

"You keep talking about your homeland, America, but I keep trying to find it on the akasha and I never seem to be able to find it," She said, looking curious, "I just realized that once I go back, I'll have a bunch of free time, so I just wanted to ask you… What was America like?"

Ah… Well, the consequences of my actions… But who cares if the akasha figures this one out?

"It was my home… And it was beautiful."

Azar

Looking over the akasha's new information for today, he skimmed over all of the idiotic criminals still using the akasha, as the matra likely already have those handled, and looked for some information on Fuse, whom had gained some attention for not wearing his akasha often and having some oddly advanced guns that aren't of Fontainian or Snezhnayan design. So, he looked for the people who had conversations with Fuse and…

…What the hell is an America?

AN:

Oh no, the consequences of loose lips.

Also I know half this chapter was filler, but uh… When I have a writer's block, I write filler. I don't know why this chapter took the entirety of 2 weeks to do.

Anyways, in other news, I am now a Neuvillete secondary. Raiden may be my main, but holy crap Neuvillete is fun, I gotta come up with an excuse for Fuse to go to Fontaine later.

Anyways, I think chapter 6 will be less fillery…

[Also yeah I know Nilou's segment was a little iffy, but by the time I was done with this chapter and recognized it was kinda not good, I didn't want to delete all those words…]

[Also yeah both Time Capsule and Manifest Destiny have MCs that use souls, I guess I was just in a soul-phase when writing both of these fics.]

(I've come to the conclusion, this chapter is trash. But I'm so behind on chapters because I've been writing too much Time Capsule, so I'll upload this anyways.)

(Also in just 2 chapters, Time Capsule has caught up in terms of word count to this fic. I think we in the industry call that 'a skill issue')